Saving Joey Wheeler
by Shayken Destiny
Summary: Joey falls in with a gang, and is slowly becoming unreachable by his friends and family. Can someone stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life, before it's too late?


Okay, I've decided to create another story!  For a prologue, this is kind of long.  (Hey, this a very long chapter for me, as I'm prone to writing really short ones.)  For all of you that like Joey, as you can kind of guess, he's basically the main character.  Oh, and I have heard that Joey's dad is abusive, or something like that, but I'm not sure how true that is, and in this story he's just a regular guy that's having trouble raising his teenage son alone.

As usual, there's no yaoi, but please read anyways.  Rated PG just in case.

Disclaimer:  It is to my great sorrow that I do not own Yu-gi-oh! T_T

**Prologue**

            Class was just getting out one Monday afternoon in Domino when a tall boy loaded down with books picked his way carefully down the steps of his school.  At the bottom, he set the pile down and ran his fingers through the messy blonde hair that was forever hanging in his chocolate-brown eyes.

            "Hey, Joey!" called someone behind him.  The boy turned around.  It was Yugi.

            "Hey Yug!" replied Joey Wheeler.  "How's it goin'?" He sat down on the steps and rested while he waited for his friend to catch up.

            "Joey, how come you've got so many books?" asked Yugi.  "You never study."

            "Yeah, well, I gotta lotta work to do," said Joey.  "I'm failin' six classes!"

"Joey!  We only _take_ six classes!"

"I know, Yugi, I know!  And my dad's gonna ground me unless I get my grades up!"

            "Gee, that's too bad, Joey.  I was going to invite you over to the Game Shop, but I can see you're pretty busy.  Anyways, good luck with the math test tomorrow!"

            "MATH TEST!?" groaned Joey.  "Awwwwww . . ." He bent down and picked up his books.  "Guess I better get started," he called over his shoulder.  He had only gone two steps before he ran into someone.  "Ey, watch where you're goin'," said Joey, as he dropped his books.

            "Hmph," said a cold voice.  "If I were you, _mutt_, I'd not carry so much.  Apparently, just walking is enough of a challenge for you."

            _Ergh__, grumbled Joey to himself.  _Who does that Seto Kaiba think he is?!__

            "I've had about enough of you, Kaiba," retorted Joey.

            "Is that supposed to be a threat?" asked Seto as more sarcasm crept into his voice.

            "Call it what ya like," said Joey as he gathered his books up for the second time.  Pushing past the other teen, he continued on his way.  The books slowed him down considerably, as did the new arcade . . .

            "Hey!  They've got the new game!" said Joey as he passed by its big window.  "I've been waitin' for _months_ ta play it!"  Glancing furtively around as though afraid of being seen, he rushed in, set his books down, and immediately became immersed in the game.  After spending all his quarters, Joey reluctantly left the arcade, again burdened with textbooks.

            _Finally, thought Joey as he reached his house.  __I thought I'd never get home.  Opening the door, he was confronted by his father._

            "Joey, where _were_ you?!" he asked.  "You were supposed to be home two hours ago!"

            "Sorry, Dad," said Joey.  "But I had to – "

            "Never mind.  I don't want to hear any more excuses from you."

            "Look – "

            "That's enough!  Go to your room Joseph Wheeler!" he shouted.

            "Fine!" Joey yelled back.  He stormed angrily to his room, still holding his stack of books.

            Once in his room, Joey lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling.   He wanted nothing more than to get away from everything.  It was the fifth run-in he'd had with his dad in a week.

            _At least this one didn't turn into an all-out fight like the last one, thought Joey grimly.  He'd come home late, and it hadn't even been his fault.  He'd had to stay late at school because of some stupid assembly that ran long, and his dad wouldn't listen to him.  It wasn't fair._

            _I'm failing school, Kaiba's always a jerk, and my dad hates me, he said to himself.  _This is not a good day.__

            He heaved a sigh and went to the door.  Opening it with as little creaking as possible, he checked that the coast was clear before stepping out into the hallway.  Joey made his way to the front door, carefully opened it, and went out into the street.  It was already evening.

            Making his way down the empty sidewalk, Joey wandered aimlessly through the city.  He passed the arcade, but didn't go in.  Instead, he sat down on the curb and put his head in his hands.  Footsteps resounded along the sidewalk.  They stopped abruptly next to him, and someone sat down alongside him.

            "You look pretty unhappy," said a voice in his ear.

            Joey jumped a little, then raised his head and looked to see who was talking.  It was another teen, one that didn't go to his school.  

            "Who are you?" asked Joey.

            "You can call me Tine," he replied.  "Everyone else does."

            "I'm Joey.  Joey Wheeler."

            "Well, Joey, looks like you need some fun in your life.  Sittin' on the curb lookin' depressed can't be _that exciting," said Tine.  "Come hang out with me and my friends.  We're not too far from here.  Tonight we're gonna listen to the new CDs." He brandished a CD player in front Joey._

            Joey knew he should be doing his homework, but after that day, he just didn't care anymore.

            "Okay," he said standing up and brushing dust off his pants.  "Let's go."

            He followed Tine for a couple of blocks until they came to an old, slightly run-down building.

            "This is where we hang out," explained Tine.  "It looks pretty bad on the outside, but that's just a cover to keep people out.  We've fixed it up inside.  It's even got a fridge that we keep stocked with snacks.  But I gotta warn ya, we haven't cleaned the upstairs yet, so nobody goes up there much."

            They opened the door and went in.  The floor inside had been carpeted with a motley assortment of rugs in all colors and sizes, and the walls were painted white with posters covering any dents and holes.  Comfortable chairs were placed seemingly at random throughout the room.

            "Hey guys!" called Tine.  "I'm back!"

            "Finally," said a voice from the next room.  "Did ya bring the CD player?"

            "Yeah," answered Tine.  "And I brought a friend along, too."

            Six teens appeared in the doorway.  One of them stepped forward and carefully scrutinized Joey.

            "Who's this?" he asked, turning to Tine.

            "This is Joey Wheeler," said Tine.  "He looked pretty depressed, so I invited him to hang out with us."

            "Well, Joey," said the other teen.  "Welcome to the gang!  I'm Jagg, the one in charge of this little group.  Over there are Tyre, Shrike, twins Zal and Kal, and Dram.  G and Vir are out gettin' the CDs.  Tine, you and the others go get somethin' ta eat.  I wanna talk to the new guy."

            Tine nodded, and they went into what Joey would discover to be the "Kitchen."  Jagg flopped into the nearest chair and motioned for Joey to sit down as well.

            "So, Joey," said Jagg.  "This here's a group called the Jaguars.  Ya don't have ta join right away.  Ya don't even have ta join at all if ya really don't want to.  Just hang out with us for a little while and see if ya like it.  It's a great escape from the stress of life, and from what Tine said, ya could use a break.  We'll be here tomorrow by 6, so drop by.  Ya know how ta get here now."

            With that, Jagg left.  Joey sat in the chair and thought Jagg's offer over.  It seemed a lot better than anything else, considering the current state of his life.

            In the other room . . .

            "So how'd it go?" asked Tine as Jagg rejoined the gang.

            "Not bad," said Jagg.  "Good job, Tine.  We needed a new member.  This guy oughta be perfect.  He'll hang out with us because he's depressed, and he'll keep hangin' out with us because we'll give him an escape from his life and a chance to enjoy himself."

            "So what's that gonna do?" asked Dram.

            "As he spends more time with us, he'll become as loyal to the gang as any member, you moron," retorted Jagg.  "We'll draw him in, but slowly, so he doesn't suspect anything.  And once he becomes a member, we'll know we've got him."

            "Sounds like a good plan," said Tine.  "But will he really come back tomorrow?"

            "Of course he will," said Jagg.  "'Cause tonight we're gonna show him that we all have a good time.  Tyre, go get some snacks from the cupboard.  Shrike, get some drinks.  It looks like G and Vir are back with the CDs.  Tine, you go explain everything to them.  Zal, you and Kal go set up the CD player and speakers.  I'll keep our 'guest' company.  Now let's get to work!"

So, what did you think?  Interesting?  Please review!!!!!!  I really want your opinions!!!!!!


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